Columbia University Narrative Intelligence Lab - Incite at Columbia University
Columbia University Narrative Intelligence Lab
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- Learn more Columbia University Narrative Intelligence Lab
Founded in 2025, the group is led by Dennis Yi Tenen, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in partnership with Moacir P. de Sá Pereira, Research Data Librarian, Columbia Libraries. The Lab is supported by Incite Institute.
The lab’s research activities emphasise at least these three distinct but related activities, vital for the health of contemporary culture and society:
- Collective cognition: thinking, writing, and creating in groups.
- Influence (text reuse, plagiarism, schematic and otherwise algorithmic and generative modes of cultural/epistemic production).
- Group thought and communal storytelling including expert discourse, conspiracy theory, disinformation, and propaganda.
The “laboratory” aspect of the group’s work signals (a) a concerted effort to move beyond the single authorship model in the humanities; (b) a preference for mixed methods, combining qualitative and quantitative modalities; and (c) an ethos of working together through regular in-person meetings, research task delegation, triage, and discussions.
These goals are achieved by the lab actively facilitating collaboration between faculty, graduate, and undergraduate researchers, focusing on specific publishable outcomes. We recognize also that a significant barrier to collaboration lies in the relative lack of formal methodological training. Consequently, our activities include professional development through workshops and certificate programs for scholars at all stages of their career.
More Projects
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go to Speaking into Silences
Speaking into SilencesHosting mass-listening events across Puerto Rico focusing on surviving simultaneous, stratified disasters. Part of Assembling Voices
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go to Embodied Earth
Embodied EarthBreaking through climate knowledge silos with collaborative, interactive public performances driven by research. Part of Assembling Voices
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go to Boca Chica, Corazón Grande
Boca Chica, Corazón GrandeAgainst environmental and economic threats, documenting the history and geography of Boca Chica Beach through the eyes and memories of its community members. Part of Assembling Voices
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go to Documenting the Israeli Democracy Protest Movement
Documenting the Israeli Democracy Protest MovementCapturing the untold stories of Israel's largest grassroots protest movement through intimate interviews with twenty leading organizers. Part of the Left Field Fund